Tarver goes against old mentor Nolan

Raiders defensive coordinator Jason Tarver was asked about how he can get 11 guys to swarm the football, and he said he learned from Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who he worked for back on the 49ers.

“There’s a couple of ways,” Tarver said. “Having worked for Mike Nolan, a lot of the things that we do defensively, and a lot of my background being around him, he’s a great coach, he does a great job of getting his guys, getting the players, to do that. Some things are showing film. Some things are knowing where your help is. You can really go fast with the correct angle when you know where your help is.

“That’s what happens when you’re teaching defense, you go, ‘Oh, well I wasn’t sure that he was where he was going to be.’ Well, you have to be sure, and you have to trust that he’s going to be there.

“Really, it comes down to this – when you play, you’ve got to go play. The players get the good job. They get to go play football. Most of us that are around it would give anything to have one more shot, even cover one more kickoff or make one more tackle just to get feel that again. It’s a great game for that reason. It’s teaching and coaching with adrenaline, and that’s how you have to play every play is that passion. What we have to do is harness that. What you have to do as a player is get that out of yourself every play. That’s where we have to go. We have to find a way to do that all the time. That’s what the best do.”